Chapter 14 – Terrible Training
-.-.-.-.-.
Sanguis awoke slowly, feeling refreshed after having gotten a good night's rest. The small dwelling he shared with the other hybrids wasn't made of itchy wood and wasn't flying high above the ground, which contributed greatly to his current state of comfort.
As he became aware, he began to hear things coming from elsewhere in the room. There was a low crackling, underneath which a faint sizzling could be heard, and then low voices. So the others were already awake, it seemed.
He opened his orange eyes blearily, blinking away his drowsiness, and immediately saw Sera sitting down on the floor next to him.
"Good morning, Sanguis," she whispered. Her hand reached out to make contact with the top of his head.
The Baruragaru-boy felt a flash of indignation, and his fins pricked alertly just before he raised his head to snap at Sera's fingers. She drew her hand away from his teeth, which were as sharp and black as before his transformation.
"Sorry," she mumbled an apology, clutching her wrist insecurely.
He let out a huff. Just because she was his 'caretaker' didn't give her the right to touch him.
Stretching out his tail and arms, he climbed into a kneeling position and instinctively released his long tongue from his mouth, drinking in the scents that saturated the small room. He almost cringed when he detected that inevitable undercurrent of Mike's aroma, but he didn't – not when there was something far more compelling to focus on.
Sanguis slid his eyes over to where the mouth-watering scent was coming from. He didn't have to look very far. In front of Sera was part of a dead monster. The tail, if Sanguis had to guess from the shape of the fin, which looked like a much bigger version of the fish he had seen while traveling across the Big Water. It was so fresh that it was still oozing blood.
Blood! Sanguis thought, suddenly realizing that he was absolutely famished.
"Oh yes…" Sera spoke up. She tentatively reached forward and pushed the bloody tail further towards her charge. "I went out to see what our hunters had brought back from yesterday. It was mostly Delex… so I brought a couple back and saved you one of the tails."
Sanguis didn't hesitate. He plunged his tongue into the juicy sand-colored tail and drained it of everything there was to be drained. When he was done several seconds later, he could have sworn that he had never felt to satisfied. He sat back on his rear end and ran the tip of his tongue over his bloodstained lips. There was a strange yet delicious tingle on either side of his neck as his storage sacs filled up a little with whatever his stomach couldn't fit.
If Sera noticed the scar-like markings on his neck split apart to reveal a bloody red membrane, she didn't comment on it. Instead, she gave him the faintest of smiles, one that even his observant eyes were hard-pressed to detect. Sanguis tilted his head at her.
"I'm glad that you liked it," she said. "You must have been hungry."
She had no idea. Sanguis was in such a good mood after filling his belly that he even felt inclined to thank her in some way – something that he had never felt like doing in his entire life, because there was no-one to thank but yourself when you caught a good breakfast. So he had no idea how he would even go about doing performing an action that would even come close to being interpreted as a thank-you. And of course, physical contact was out of the question.
"Sssss…" he just hissed at her, bobbing his head in what he hoped was a submissive way.
Now it was her turn to tilt her head, appearing confused by the odd gesture. Then she looked down and murmured, "Well… I'm happy to provide for you. I'll get you something else for lunch in a few hours… if you want…"
Sanguis' fins pricked up as if they were ears. This wasn't a one-time thing? As long as he stuck with Sera, he'd be fed? That was a revelation that made him feel… warm inside. Some kind of inner elation that bloomed in his chest.
Was that what happiness felt like? It felt strange and alien… but not all that bad, admittedly, if Sanguis could look past the overlying feeling of discomfort that came with the unfamiliarity of it all…
And hey, the more food he got, the less tempted he'd be to kill one of the others. Not that he really cared about them, but doing something like that wouldn't be healthy for him.
With his meal over and done with, Sanguis turned his head toward the soft sound of crackling. His eyes widened – fire!
A small fire was burning inside a nest-like structure on the central table. The bowl took up the entirety of the table itself, and the other hybrids were crowded around it. Each of them had bits of meat on sticks and were roasting them over the fire. On the floor were ten-foot-long fishy creatures with crocodile snouts, dead of course, lying on blood-soaked, spongy rugs.
Sanguis had seen fire before, and only knew that it destroyed things and spread out of control whenever it could. But what he saw before him was… fascinating. The hybrids had contained this fire and were using it to burn their meals before they ate.
"Oh, Swamp Boy's up!" Melody chirruped excitedly. She gulped down her mouthful in one go and, with a twinkling grin, tossed a hunk of burnt meat into the air.
The former leviathan snatched it with his tongue before it could hit the ground, before he even knew what he was doing. Solid food? Well, why not? And even though the morsel was charred and bloodless, it had an unexpected, enhanced flavor.
"Good, huh?" asked the girl with the fangs – Yuki, or so Sanguis recalled. She had her fur-lined hood down, revealing long and pure white hair. "I still prefer my meals cold, but cooked meat is okay, isn't it?"
Sanguis hesitantly nodded. Well… she wasn't wholly wrong…
"Come on guys, hurry up!" came the snappish voice of Keyren, who stood up all at once and strode toward the door. "There's combat training today! I wanna get over to that arena and start kicking your tails!"
The lovely Lagiacrus-girl walked without any regard for anyone else, so Sanguis, crouched near the ground as he was, had to scramble out of the way before she stepped on his tail. Keyren suddenly paused and looked down in surprise, as if she had not been expecting to see him there.
"Oh hey, Swamp Boy," she greeted, more calmly. She extended her hand and held it in front of him, allowing him to use his tongue to examine it. "Sleep well? I hope you're coming with us to the arena. Then you can see how awesome I am."
His tongue slid back into his mouth, and he made a gurgling sound in his throat that sounded halfway between a purr and a croak.
"You happy to see me?" Keyren asked, amused. "Sure, after spending the night curled up next to her, you probably would be."
There was dead silence from Sera's corner of the room.
"Sssss…" was all Sanguis said.
Standing back up to her full height, and giving Sanguis a good view of her bare middle as she did so, Keyren continued on her way toward the exit. "Well," she loudly spoke up, "I'm going to be the first one to combat training this morning! Later!"
Sanguis found himself entranced by the way her hips moved on her way out the door.
"Come on, Sanguis," Sera's voice prompted him to break out of his reverie and stare at her. The Unknown-girl was standing up, her deadly tail swishing behind her. "We're going as well. You should at least have a look at what our arena is all about. And later… some combat training would be good for you, too."
A grunt came from where Dissidia was stuffing Delex chunks by the paw-ful into her mouth. She waited until her mouth was empty again before remarking, "Dissidia not know what that means."
"Ooh, then we should go too!" exclaimed Melody, grinning so hard that her cheeks were flushed pink. "It'll be so much fun~!"
"And leave me and Claire to pick up the leftovers?" Yuki protested. She gestured to the dead Delex sitting on the absorbent rugs, which were made from Ludroth skin.
The Lucent Nargacuga-girl said nothing, simply reached over to start gathering the leftovers.
-.-.-.-.-.
Way back in the day, Loc Lac City's biggest attraction was its arena. Monsters that weren't killed by hunters would be captured and sent here for gladiators to spar against. The battles often went either way, but no matter who came out on top, there was always much bloodshed and entertainment for the crowds. Loc Lac City had the biggest and most well-maintained arena on the entire Great Continent, apart from that of Dundorma City.
Of course, that was then. Nowadays, it didn't see much action, apart from the locals using it as a practice site to hone their fighting skills. Duruhos had had the idea, thinking that friendly sparring would be a good way to help them master their new bodies. And naturally, for self-defense, in case they ever needed it.
The arena itself was fairly simple in terms of design. Circular, with a sandy pit that served as the fighting area, surrounded by a canyon made up of rock ledges that provided numerous places to sit down and watch the action going on below. This early in the morning, the arena was heavily shadowed, creating a definite contrast between light and dark. Several hybrids were there already, waiting for their turn to go down and spar against each other. Sue and Odon, the only two Elite remaining in Loc Lac now that Duruhos was gone, were standing atop the highest ledge and gazing down at those who were currently fighting, making sure that neither of them were permanently injured.
A scream of pain echoed through the arena as the Hypnocatrice-woman received an orb of electricity in the gut at twenty miles an hour, courtesy of her slightly younger sparring partner. Keyren casually brushed her sparking nails against her collarbone and smirked.
"Not bad," the former bird wyvern commented, brushing dust off her skirt, which was made of enormous orange feathers that grew from her waist. More feathers extended from the back of her head and fanned out in an instinctive threat display.
"Better take notes," she taunted Keyren. "Because Blossom's class is now in session."
"And something tells me you're about to get schooled!" the Lagiacrus-girl laughed confidently, baring her claws.
Flaring her wings so quickly that dust went flying off the ground with an audible *whoosh*, Blossom sprang into the air, abnormally high by human standards, and came down on Keyren with her foot extended in front of her.
Keyren brought her hands together, blocking Blossom's gravity-aided kick and grabbing her knee-high boot with a grip of iron. The spines on her back suddenly flashed, and a pulse of electricity ran up her arms and into the Hypnocatrice-woman's foot. Cringing, Blossom tore her foot away and lashed out with the other foot, batting Keyren across the face and flooring her.
She spat out a pointy tooth and smirked. "Okay, that was pretty awesome."
Springing to her feet, Keyren threw a punch, which Blossom ducked under and then immediately headbutted her in the gut. Keyren went flying backwards, but curled up her body and used the momentum to roll back into a standing position. Blossom was already almost on top of her when she had fully recovered, the talons on her hands bared. The two females grappled for a few seconds, before Keyren sent another wave of electricity down her arms to repel Blossom and then turned around to swat her in the face with her tail.
"That's enough!" cried Sue from the upper parts of the arena.
Blossom, who was actually starting to look furious, calmed herself down and adjusted her pose to a more relaxed one, her feathers twitching slightly. Smirking, Keyren did the same, confidently folding her arms across her chest.
"Are you serious?!" Odon complained, tapping his foot on the concrete so quickly it looked like his leg was having a seizure. "It was just getting good!"
Sue gave him a very condescending stare. "It is our job to supervise and ensure these fights do not end with life-threatening injuries, not simply to watch for our own personal entertainment."
It was at this moment when Sanguis and Sera arrived through the arena's main entrance. By now used to the eye-searing rays of the Bright Circle, Sanguis blinked in awe at the sheer enormity of the structure he now stood in. He couldn't help but wonder how long it would have taken a few of those scrawny Two-Legs to build something like this, and how many would have dropped dead of exhaustion before it was finished.
"Come on…" he heard Sera's prompt, and followed her up a nearby set of steps that led away from the sand pit and toward the rock ledges that surrounded it.
There was someone already near the spot that Sera had in mind. In the shadows crouched Gekula, the Khezu-boy, staying out of the light of the desert sun as if he feared it would roast him alive. Fortunately for him, the long shadows produced by the sun's early light made it easy for him.
"Ah… Sera," he hissed, showing his crooked teeth. "Come with the bloodsucker, I see."
She completely ignored him, although a shiver passed through her body and made it tense up instinctively. Once again, Sanguis smelled barely-repressed anger. He crouched low to the ground, close to the wall that formed the ledge above, so that he would be more hidden in the shadows and less visible to potential dangers.
This amount of caution was unusual for the Baruragaru. In his old home, he had been the top predator – but now, he was in a world where his surroundings were dominated by individuals of similar size and strength. For the umpteenth time, he observed with great apprehension that this was a world that was alien to him, one where he was no longer the mightiest.
He was so focused on his mysterious and unnerving caretaker that Sanguis was caught totally off guard when a pair of talons slammed down on the rock above him. He leapt back with his tongue flashing from his mouth, jabbing at the armored legs that towered above him to no avail.
"Oh man, that was too good!" Odon cackled, having swooped down from his high vantage point on the other side of the arena. "Aggressive type, aren't you? Well, why don't you show us how feisty you can get?"
Laughing maniacally, the Astalos-man leapt off the ledge and kicked Sanguis into the sandy pit below, using his wings to keep himself aloft all the while. Hissing and spitting madly, Sanguis tumbled in the dry earth and rolled onto all fours, whipping his tail and tongue in a fit of anger. When Odon soared over him to make it back to his initial perch, Sanguis acted as he did with all flying prey – throwing his tongue out like a rope to yank him down to the ground.
Odon instantly exploded into motion, using both his feet and his wing claws to propel him out of harm's way before quickly going back into an upright gait. Sanguis didn't bother, galloping after him like a misshapen ape and howling at the top of his lungs. But he didn't get far – bright flashes of light hurled from Odon's wings deterred him and allowed Odon himself to get back into the air again.
"A bit over-enthusiastic, huh?" he shrieked. The sneering grin never left his face as he circled tauntingly over the arena.
"Odon!" snapped Sue, raising her voice to a volume that was much higher than was normal for her. "What did I just tell you?!"
"Hey, he needs to learn how to fight anyway!" Odon protested, soaring close to her but never landing. "Isn't this the best way to get a new hybrid to learn the basics?"
The Mizutsune-woman looked like she was on the verge of spitting fire – indeed, if she was able to, she probably would have. But rather, she tamed her temper and sighed, admitting under her breath that the insane Elite probably had somewhat of a point.
Sanguis twisted his head this way and that, the roaring sound of his own fury filling his ears. His eyes were darting every which way, furiously seeking out a target on which he could take out his anger. At first, he saw nothing – and then a grinning monster boy materialized out of thin air directly in front of him, the sun playing across his ludicrous purple robes and making them glitter.
He lunged, snarling, at the Purple Male for daring to show his fangs in such a taunting expression. But his potential victim's wings snapped open and propelled him backwards into the air. The smirk seemed to spread even wider, driving Sanguis into a near-mindless state of animalistic rage. Howling at the top of his lungs, Sanguis awkwardly charged forward on all fours in an attempt to get close and make the other hybrid pay.
But every time he came close, the Purple Male vanished into thin air and reappeared somewhere else, that stupid goddamn grin getting wider and more toothy every time. The fifth time that happened (although he definitely wasn't in any mental state fit to count), Sanguis screeched and launched his tongue from his mouth, which caught the Purple Male off guard and stabbed deep into his side. He screamed and ripped the offending appendage away, and red blotches stained his purple garment.
A slurred hiss of satisfaction made it past Sanguis' lips – only for a very wet and sticky something to collide with his forehead, making a loud *splat* when it made contact. The Purple Male's own tongue had shot out and smashed into Sanguis with incredible force, causing small winking lights to dance spastically in the Baruragaru's vision. On instinct, Sanguis' own tongue coiled around the Purple Male's before stabbing straight through its musculature.
Blood splattered across the sand, only heightening Sanguis' rage. He saw the Purple Male vanish, leaving telltale red stains behind him as his mouth bled, then reappear again to spread his wings and emit a cloud of violet fog into the air around him.
Sanguis backed away, hissing, putting a temporary leash on his rage so as not to go charging into the obscuring cloud. He smelled a potent venomous property in that fog, which wasn't something he wanted to inhale. He could infer that the Purple Male was using the toxic mist to provide a safe place to hide.
There was a blur of movement from off to the side, and he whipped around to see his enemy descending down on him with rapid beats of his wings. Reacting fast, Sanguis opened his mouth and internally squeezed his storage sacs. On either side of his neck, a ripple passed across the dark red membranes – and then the blood from his last meal was blasted into the Purple Male's face.
The cloaked hybrid squealed and fell out of the sky, frantically wiping his eyes in an effort to clear his vision. Grinning with satisfaction, Sanguis advanced, extending his tongue for the kill.
All of a sudden, Sue was in front of him. She waved her arm, and opalescent bubbles floated out from the sleeve of her kimono. To Sanguis' intense displeasure, the bubbles attached to him and saturated the ground with their soapy wetness. He hissed angrily, the unpleasant taste of the bubbles fueling his rage. But when he took a step forward, he slipped and collapsed to the ground in a writhing, slippery heap.
There was a soft *splat*, followed by the smell of meat. He looked up, fury rapidly dissipating, and saw Sera standing over him and withdrawing a bloodied hand. Now he looked down, to see a hunk of flesh in front of him. Completely forgetting his violent temper tantrum, his tongue zipped out and brought the snack into his mouth to be chewed and swallowed.
Seeing the Baruragaru-boy calm down so quickly, Sera spared him the barest ghost of a smile. Was this a good sign? Would she make a good caretaker, like Duruhos had said?
"I am most grateful for your help, Sera," Sue thanked her, bowing. "The Pond did not warn me that this young leviathan would be so much trouble."
"I'm only doing my best…" Sera accepted her thanks with a discomforted ducking of her head.
A sudden murmur rose from the hybrids that were sitting on the ledges around the arena. Several of the flying ones beat their wings and flew off, as if something had inexplicably changed their minds about being there. As it turned out, there was indeed something – or rather, someone.
"Worthless!" growled Spark the Rajang-man, stomping into the arena like he owned the place. "That boy's a Chameleos? He fought like a Kelbi! Such pathetic combat would never exist if I were in charge here. I'd train you all into real fighters, not the wimps –"
Odon landed feetfirst on the sand, sparks jumping from his glowing wings. "Oh go cry me a river, Monkey Boy! You'll never be in charge here, so just shut up and do as you're told!"
Spark scratched his bare chest, snarling. "Can't you see that that buffoon Duruhos is holding us all back? We're hiding within these ruins like Altaroth grubs, too scared to come out! I'm twice the leader that old man could ever be!"
"Do NOT speak ill of Duruhos!" Sue shouted, causing both Sera and Sanguis to jump. Neither of them had ever heard the Mizutsune-woman raise her voice to such a level. "Without him, we would not be united, wandering the wilds of the Great Continent and at the mercy of any human that comes along! He has shown us all the kindness in his heart by allowing us a place to live – scorn him, and you are not fit to live amongst us!"
Electricity crackled around Sparks' fist, and he pulled it back with a grunt. "Don't talk to me with such disrespect," he snarled, and threw a deadly punch at Sue.
Sanguis didn't know what came over him. All he could tell was that, suddenly, he didn't want the Hairy Man to hit Sue. Was it because he secretly didn't mind her, with her soft words and gentle personality? As weak as he had become, did Sue make him feel safe?
The end of his tongue was suddenly buried in Spark's arm.
The Rajang-man roared, and his mane of fur suddenly spread out and turned bright yellow. It was such an unexpected threat display that Sanguis instinctively retreated, getting down on all fours as if that would be sufficient to hide him.
"YOU SLIMY BASTARD!" Spark bellowed.
His meaty hand flashed downward, and then Sanguis' eyes were bulging from his sockets as he was lifted into the air by his neck, five muscular fingers constricting his windpipe and cutting off his air. Gagging, his tongue crawled out of his mouth of its own accord and twitched spastically. All he could see were angry red eyes and bright yellow fur all over the place – at least, before his vision started to blur and go dim…
Finally, after several agonizing seconds, the grip on his throat was released. Sanguis hit the ground hard, his ears full of Odon's insane shrieking and Sue's scolding shouts. He was dimly aware of his tail moving and his arms making futile, halfhearted attempts to right himself, but truthfully he was too dazed to do anything of the sort.
His brain decided to take a nap. Sanguis was in no position to argue with it.
Fist blazing with lightning, Spark smashed it into Odon's armored chest and sent the Astalos-man reeling. Free from the Elite's attacks for a moment, he took the time to glare down at Sanguis' unmoving form with disgust.
"Whoever's in charge of that thing should watch his tongue," he snarled. "Or I'll stomp his head into paste."
Red flashed across Sera's vision, and she felt another flash, one of fear so strong that she almost turned tail and ran out of the arena. No… she had to contain it. She had hidden her anger for all these years… it was only one of Spark's usual threats, nothing more than that.
Regardless of her internal struggle, her mouth moved on its own. Fueled by the very anger she sought so hard to hide, her voice came out hard as stone. "It's none of your business."
Spark's fur stood on end and quivered slightly, such was his intense Rajang rage. In a tone that was dangerously quiet, belying what was undoubtedly about to erupt inside of him, he warned, "I'd hold your tongue if I were you, she-devil. If you don't, I'll show you exactly how to make the world a better place – by getting rid of demons like you."
"Enough!" Sue all but shrieked, her fins flushing a vivid scarlet. "Spark, out. I forbid you from saying another –"
An electrified fist met her gut, throwing the Mizutsune-woman away to join her fellow Elite in the dirt.
"I say it's high time you step down and let a real leader take charge," the Rajang-man bit out, and spat in the dirt at the Elites' feet. "I've been waiting for a long time to get that old man Duruhos out of the way. This is as good an opportunity as any."
No… no! Sera begged, squeezing her eyes shut so that she wouldn't have to see the world through a haze of red. She folded her wings around herself and trembled, a terrified sob escaping her lips. She had to hold it in, no matter how much it demanded to be let out… she'd only make things worse by acting rashly…
But Spark… he really did deserve it… maybe she could take out a little bit of her fury on him…
NO! her inner voice screamed. I'm NOT a demon! I'm NOT what they say I am!
A hand squeezed her wrist in a grip of iron, tearing her arm away from her face. Sera's dark, fear-stricken eyes were forced to meet Spark's bloodshot and furious ones.
"Perhaps I can make an example of you," he growled, flecks of saliva spattering her face.
He gave an almighty wrench, throwing her aside. Even as she stared up at him with frightened helplessness, a ball of orange-yellow plasma formed between his hands. The scowl on his face was illuminated by the forming projectile, giving it that added hint of menace.
He's actually going to kill me, she thought, half-shocked into numbness.
Sera was a girl that naturally wallowed in sadness and despair. On any other day, she would have accepted her fate without a complaint, embraced death with the knowledge that she couldn't be hated or discriminated against in the afterlife.
But today happened to be the breaking point. After five long years, she could no longer contain any more emotion. It was time to let it out.
All of it.
"TAKE THIS, CREATURE!" Spark roared, and let the deadly orb of concentrated lightning fly.
It slammed into Sera, enveloping her in a crackling, expanding aura of orange and yellow bolts of electricity. The forking thunderbolts knit together in an ever-growing sphere of destruction, illuminating the battlefield and chasing away the hybrids that still remained. The brilliance of the bolts clashed in a surprisingly beautiful way with the descending darkness, and –
Wait.
It was too early for night to be falling. Far too early.
And why was Sera getting up?
The atmosphere continued to darken, but there were no clouds in the sky to obscure the sun. But even though the sun shone brightly, everything inexplicably started to descend into shadow, becoming ominous shades of black, grey, and other muted colors.
It was in this new world of darkness where Spark finally forgot his anger. His fur lost its yellow tinge and lay flat on his back once again, and apprehension filled his eyes in place of the animalistic rage.
Sera was getting to her feet, shadowy mist thinly obscuring her figure. With every movement, the dark aura partially dissolved into wisps that rose into the air before evaporating. Most of Sera's features were difficult to make out, but the ones that showed through had changed for the worse – a snarl of rage distorting her mouth, her wing claws and membranes glowing orange-red… and her eyes burning a hateful crimson, shining through the darkness like twin gateways to Hell.
"I've had enough of you," the Unknown-girl hissed in a voice so distorted with her own pent-up fury that it was barely recognizable. "You've been a nuisance for far too long. It's the end for you."
The natural reaction for a Rajang in this situation? What else other than more rage?
"How DARE you?!" he roared. "For whatever you're doing to Loc Lac, you witch, I swear I will make you pay for in BLOOD!"
At first, she said nothing. The darkness closed in, bringing with it a cold that seemed to sap the strength from his very bones.
"This is for your existence," the shadowy version of Sera spat. "DIE."
Over the city of Loc Lac, where the veil of midnight dropped down in the early morning, there were screams. And they wouldn't be stopping any time soon…
-.-.-.-.-.
So… Sera, huh?
And Spark, what an ass. Two words – anger management.
Things don't look good for Spark, but the chapter was full of entertaining hybrid-on-hybrid action (no, not that kind, you dirty-minded perverts). I thought it'd be fun to pit Sanguis against a Chameleos hybrid.
Next chapter, we'll see how, exactly, the fight between Unknown and Rajang turned out…
Send reviews!